Hindi Cinema's New-Age Ravanas: Dussehra Special

Mythology and evil have always fascinated filmmakers. And while there have been plenty of references to the Ramayana in Hindi cinema, here are some of the modern, mainstream anti-heroes, who had obvious traits of Ravana in them.

__START__RaOne

Sci-Fi meets mythology. From some clever wordplay to giving a geeky superhero spin to the good Vs. evil philosophy, SRK’s ambitious RaOne tried it all. Unfortunately it lacked clarity and coherence. And what about 'RaOne'? Well he surely was scary...But it was a case of 'too little, too late'.

__PAGEBREAK__1. Raavan

Mani Ratnam tried to humanize the demon's tale, by giving Ravana's perspective of the Sita-Apaharan story. Pity that despite the innovative premise, Mani's 'Raavan' came across looking like more of a psycho-lunatic, rather than a flawed antagonist.

__PAGEBREAK__2. Aks

Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s fascination for the Ram Leela is well known. In his debut film, Mehra merged John Woo’s Face Off and the Ramayana, by showing Ram and Ravana as two sides of the same coin. Though dark and talk-heavy, Aks made interesting points about the concept of good and evil, aided by intriguing performances.

__PAGEBREAK__3. Agneepath

Karan Johar’s remake of Agneepath was firmly rooted in Indian mythology with references to Ramayana and Mahabharata. Vijay's exile, Kancha's unchallenged tyranny, Vijay's return to his village, and Kancha's eventual downfall were all plot-points filled with instances of the Ram Vs. Ravana battle. Chanting Shlokas while smoking pot, Sanjay Dutt was perfect as the evil lord with a sharp mind, and gave Bollywood one of its most memorable villains in recent times!

__PAGEBREAK__4. Khal Nayak

What Mani Ratnam could not achieve, was successfully executed by Subhash Ghai in Khal Nayak. This gripping love-triangle about a cop, a convict on the run and a lady-constable who is planted as a mole in his gang, and later forced to stay with him, was a clever take on the Ram-Sita-Ravana story. In the end this Sita manages to reform Ravana and restores her Ram's faith and pride. While Shroff and Dixit were in form as the righteous couple, Sanju brought in just the right amount of vulnerability to the anti-hero.